Category Archives: Cakes

First, apologies for the long hiatus, but after closing OTHELLO in the Park, James took the summer off to recharge and celebrate a milestone birthday in Italy! On returning, he plunged right into rehearsals of MOTHER OF THE MAID a play by Jane Anderson that examines the Joan of Arc story from the perspective of her mother. And when her mother is played by Glenn Close — well, you have an incendiary evening of theater. Click here to try and buy tickets. (Would it be too punny of me to say this is a hot one?)

The cake above was created by James for the company’s first Wine and Unwind after opening. (Before then, he assured me, he had been baking recipes we’d previously blogged.)

Here’s the recipe, in James’ own words:

This originally came to me as a “Galaxy Cheesecake,” and the beauty of this cooked-but-not- baked cheesecake is that you can actually paint with the batter. I have used darker food coloring and made it look like a starry night sky. I also made this during the production of PLENTY to mimic the dappled sky on the set.

Here, the inspiration came from the lines in the second to last scene of the play where Isabelle is comforting her daughter Joan. She talks about St. Catherine telling her to look up to the skies before she feels the flames. (And let me tell you, this scene is heartbreaking.)

Look Up to the Sky Joan Cheesecake

For the crust:

12 oz cookies- crumbled and ground fine in the food processor. (Oreos are great for doing a starry evening sky. I used gluten-free chocolate cookies this time because some of the company is gluten free. They also make a lighter crust. Tate’s makes some of the best gluten free cookies. I also like to used dark chocolate cookies to better frame your cheesecake.)
4 oz (1 stick) melted butter

Put the mixture in a springform pan. Pat the base down with a spoon, forming a thick border of the cookie mixture around the circumference. You can shape it further using a glass that you press around around the edge. Refrigerate for an hour.

Melt the marshmallows with the cream cheese in a stainless steel bowl that is sitting on pot of boiling water. Keep stirring with a whisk. Once a uniform, lump free cream has formed, stir in the milk and the lemon juice. Then, divide the cream between four bowls — two large ones and two small ones. Put more cream in the larger bowls accordingly. You want to pick your base color and keep the most of that in the largest bowl. In this case it was the blue.

In the first, stir in a few drops of blue food coloring until you get a sky blue color. leave one bowl with less batter plain. This will be the clouds. Then in the smaller portions mix yellow and red to create a fiery orange. In the bowl with the smallest portion mix solid yellow

Now start painting! Pour the blue cream onto the cheesecake base first. Add portions of the plain white cheese batter for the clouds and swirl with the tip of the knife or a silicon bristled pastry brush. Towards the bottom of the pan I layered on the yellow and orange and swirled a flame effect.

You could use this technique with other colors to create all sorts of paintings.

Refrigerate the cake for at least two hours — then get ready to serve up some slices of edible art!

The actual handkerchief prop from the Public’s Shakespeare in the Park production of “Othello”

The Backstage Baker has, as usual, gone from one show, Broadway’s “Farinelli and the King,” directly to another, “Othello,” the Public Theater’s first Shakespeare in the Park offering this summer. Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (whom fans of this blog will know from our “Jitney” posts), “Othello” stars Chukwudi Iwuji as Othello, Heather Lind as Desdemona and Corey Stoll as Iago. You can learn about ticket options here.

“Othello,” in my humble opinion, is Shakespeare at his best. In fact, my English professor mother thought so too, and in 1963 wrote one of the first academic treatises about Desdemona from the perspective of feminist. Entitled “The Indiscretions of Desdemona,” this essay was apparently quite ground-breaking in its time. Here’s the JStor link. If you read it, do tell me what you think in the comments section below.

But, back to the napkin: it’s an essential prop that drives the plot forward. Othello gives it to Desdemona, Iago convinces his wife Emilia to steal it, Iago plants the hanky in Cassio’s bedroom and Othello thinks Desdemona is unfaithful — without that napkin there would be no story!!

Here’s a speech from the play about said napkin:

I am glad I have found this napkin. This was her first remembrance from the Moor, My wayward husband hath a hundred times Wooed me to steal it, but she so loves the token— For he conjured her she should ever keep it— That she reserves it evermore about her To kiss and talk to. I’ll ha’ the work ta’en out, And give’t Iago. What he will do with it, Heaven knows, not I. I nothing, but to please his fantasy. (Emilia III.iii.294–303)

Oh Emilia, so clueless.

Now, here’s the cake James made for Sunday’s Wine and Unwind:

Our Backstage Baker outdid himself this time, don’t you think?

Here’s the recipe he used, but really, you could make this with any sort of plain, vanilla cake.

Crustless Coconut Custard Pie BarsNOTE from the Backstage Baker: The original recipe called for making it in a pie pan but handkerchiefs are square so I did a 9″square pan. Of course.

Mark Rylance, aka King Phillip V, star of “Farinelli and the King”

King Phillip V, that is. Our James has hopped directly from “Time and the Conways” to another Broadway show, “Farinelli and the King.” If you haven’t heard of it, you really, really should. I was lucky enough to see it last week, and it is really a gorgeous, emotional and relevant evening of theater. No spoilers here, but the entire production seems lit entirely by candlelight and the whole thing has a magical, poignant quality to it. Here’s a link to a Vanity Fair article about it, here’s the New York Times review and here’s where you can buy tickets. Do get them soon, because this is a limited run that ends on March 25.

But back to cake — Mark Rylance, (King Phillip) celebrated his birthday yesterday, and James baked his classic, simple and delectable Flourless Chocolate Cake. Actually, as you can see from the photo below, he baked two. While we’ve already blogged this recipe (here), when the King commands, it seems necessary to blog it again. Plus, the cake only has six ingredients, so it’s a definite keeper

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch round cake pan, and dust with cocoa powder.
2. In the top of a double boiler over lightly simmering water, melt chocolate and butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

For the Glaze:

1. In a small saucepan, combine 2 tablespoons sugar, the corn syrup and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Add 4 ounces chopped chocolate, swirl pan to mix, do not mix, and allow to stand until melted, about 3 minutes.
2. Whisk 1 tablespoon butter into icing until melted and the chocolate is shiny and smooth.. Put wax paper under the cooling rack then pour glaze evenly over cake. Use a spatula to ease icing out to edges of cake and down the sides. Sprinkle the ground almonds around the top edge of the cake. Allow icing to cool and set before slicing.

Champagne with a chaser . . . Or is it the other way around?

Sometimes, there are things asked of stage manager that are far outside their job description . . .

Now, as mentioned in a recent post, the Backstage Baker is stage managing “Time and the Conways” for the Roundabout. They just started previews at the American Airlines Theater and I hear it’s a smash. (So get those tickets now, because this is a limited run that closes on November 26.)

This show offered James a baking challenge and believe it or not, it’s not the first time he’s been called on to create something edible to appear onstage eight times a week. (The last time was for a blueberry pie that Dianne Wiest made and baked onstage in the play “Memory House” back in 2005. Here’s the review where the pie features prominently.)

But back to “Time and the Conways.” It so happened that one of the actors was staged to devour a mini-bundt cake, but no one wants to consume a sugar-filled, gluten-based cake eight times a week.

Backstage Baker to the rescue! Late one night, right the middle of technical rehearsals, he got home and started experimenting. Could a pancake batter of eggs and banana be turned into a cake? Would it even be edible? Would it hold the bundt shape and look like an elegant confection worthy of the Conways? More importantly, would the actor be able to eat it with gusto? Into the wee hours, he baked. The cakes auditioned the next day and were a hit! Now you can see them on stage eight times a week at The American Airlines Theatre.

Matthew James Thomas (who plays Robin Conway) about to do the taste test.

It passed the first audition… now to the call back, on stage and in front of the director.

It’s hired! Now, should you ever find yourself in this situation, here’s the recipe:

Our Backstage Baker is busy busy — he’s already deep in rehearsal for his next Broadway show, J.B. Priestley’s Time and the Conways, starring Elizabeth McGovern and directed by Indecent’s Rebecca Taichman. (FYI, Indecent closed on August 6, but if you missed it, you can catch it on November 17 on PBS’ Great Performances. Check your local listings, as they say.)

Last week was the first Wine and Unwind for the Conways cast, and James made the Flourless Chocolate Cake already posted on the site. (As an aside, do you realize there are over 85 recipes posted here? All made by James for the various shows he’s worked on over the past four years.)

This week, he tried a new recipe, and it seems like a keeper. Enjoy!
Fresh Raspberry Stuffed Mini Dark Chocolate Cakes with Chocolate Truffle IcingNOTES: The individual cakes are made in cupcake pans and then inverted to cool, iced and served. This recipe is great for a party since it makes 24.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar and brown sugar. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating on medium speed about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

Add about 1/4 cup flour mixture and 1/4 cup buttermilk to butter mixture, beating on low speed. Keep adding flour and buttermilk until finished and beat until just combined. Beat on medium to high speed for 20 seconds more.

Divide half of the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Divide the 2 cups raspberries among muffin cups, adding 3 or 4 berries to the center of each cup. Spoon the remaining batter over berries in muffin cups. Do not fill the cups fully.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

To Prepare Chocolate Truffle Icing:
Put cream and corn syrup in a small pan and boil over low heat stirring constantly. Add chocolate chips and let set 2 minutes. Whisk to combine and add vanilla.

To glaze cupcakes, invert one cake at a time onto a slotted spoon. Hold the cake over the bowl of icing and spoon icing over cake, allowing excess to drip down side. Place glazed cakes on a wire rack set on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Chill about 20 minutes or until icing is set.

3. Make three holes in the mixture. Pour oil into one hole, vinegar in the second, vanilla in the third. Pour water over all. Mix with fork until smooth and blended. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (no more).

This cake is so moist it doesn’t need frosting. Make like the Backstage Baker and top it with fresh raspberries tossed in powdered sugar and shave some chocolate on top. Mmmm, delicious!

The Backstage Baker is back on Broadway with August Wilson’s Jitney!Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, it’s part of Wilson’s Pittsburgh/Century Cycle of plays (two of which won the Pulitzer Prize) and is the only one never produced on Broadway. Until now.

James sent me this recipe several weeks ago, having baked this delicacy for the company’s first Wine and Unwind. I’m only just getting around to posting it, while in the interim James and the company have rehearsed, teched and had their first preview on Broadway! (Oh, and they celebrated some holidays in there too.) Opening night is January 19, 2017, so get your tickets now!

Method:
1. To make the cake: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325°F. Coat a 9 x 3 x 2-inch cake pan or dish with nonstick cooking spray. If you’re using a metal pan, line the bottom and sides with foil or parchment paper and spray again.

2. Set a box grater on some paper towels and grate the zucchini on the large holes. Spread it out on the paper towels, top with more paper towels, and press gently to remove excess moisture.

3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk the sugar, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a medium bowl until very smooth. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Whisk, gradually drawing in the dry ingredients, just until smooth. Fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips with a silicone spatula until evenly incorporated. Spread the batter in an even layer in the prepared pan.

4. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top springs back a little when lightly pressed with a fingertip, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a rack.

5. While cake is cooling, make the frosting: Bring the sweet potato puree to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Cool, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is at room temperature and the consistency of canned frosting. It should hold soft peaks when you lift the spatula from the pan but not be stiff. Spread the frosting all over the top of the cake, creating swoops and swirls.

*Make ahead notes: The cake is best the day it’s made, when the chocolate chips are still a bit melty and the frosting is soft, but it will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.* Carra Patterson and Andre Holland